The "Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act" promotes diplomatic engagement to formally end the Korean War, encourages humanitarian travel to North Korea, and suggests establishing liaison offices between the U.S. and North Korea, while reaffirming the U.S. troop presence in South Korea.
Brad Sherman
Representative
CA-32
The "Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act" seeks to promote diplomatic engagement to formally end the Korean War by replacing the Armistice Agreement with a peace agreement. It requires the Secretary of State to review travel restrictions to North Korea for humanitarian reasons and to develop a plan for achieving a permanent peace agreement, including the potential establishment of liaison offices between the U.S. and North Korea. The act emphasizes that it does not affect the status of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea or elsewhere.
Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act: Pushing for a Formal End to the Korean War, Easing Travel Restrictions
The "Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act" aims to formally end the Korean War, which technically never concluded after the 1953 Armistice Agreement. This bill pushes the Secretary of State to get serious about diplomatic talks with both North and South Korea, aiming to replace that decades-old ceasefire with a real peace agreement.
Diplomacy and Dialogue
The core of this bill is about ending a war that's been on pause for over 70 years. It acknowledges that the ongoing state of war isn't just a historical footnote—it actively harms U.S. interests and prevents normal relations with North Korea. The bill specifically references the 2018 Singapore agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, which laid out a framework for peace and improved relations. A key part of that? Establishing liaison offices in each other's capitals—think mini-embassies that facilitate communication. This bill encourages the Secretary of State to make that happen (SEC. 5).
Family Ties and Humanitarian Visits
Beyond the high-level diplomacy, the bill addresses a very human issue: the separation of families. It highlights that around 100,000 Korean Americans have relatives in North Korea and are often blocked from seeing them due to travel restrictions. The bill orders the Secretary of State to review these restrictions, specifically looking at whether visits for funerals, burials, or other family commemorations should be considered "compelling humanitarian reasons" for travel (SEC. 3). This means potentially easing the process for Korean Americans to obtain Special Validation Passports for travel to North Korea for family events. The Secretary of State has 180 days to report back to Congress on this review and any policy changes (SEC. 3).
Challenges and Reporting
While the bill pushes for peace, it doesn't ignore the elephant in the room: North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The findings section (SEC. 2) clearly states that these activities are a threat. However, the bill's approach is to pursue diplomacy despite these challenges, not to wait for them to be resolved first. The bill also requires the Secretary of State to deliver a report within 180 days outlining a plan for a permanent peace agreement, identifying key players, and, importantly, detailing the challenges to achieving it (SEC. 4). This report has to be unclassified (though it can have a classified annex), meaning the public will get a look at the roadmap—and the roadblocks—to peace.
Troop Status: Untouched
One thing the bill doesn't touch is the status of U.S. troops in South Korea (or anywhere else). Section 6 makes this crystal clear: this legislation changes nothing about existing military deployments.